Little Falls mourns teen cousin shooting victims

Published 9:41 am Monday, November 26, 2012

LITTLE FALLS — Two teenagers shot and killed in a home near Little Falls have been identified.

School officials said the victims were cousins, 18-year-old Haile Kifer and 17-year-old Nicholas Brady. The alleged shooter, 64-year-old Byron David Smith, of Little Falls, is being held for second-degree murder and is likely to be charged today.

Kifer was a senior at Little Falls High School. Superintendent Stephen Jones said Sunday he was notified of her death by investigators. Brady was a student at Pillager High School. The Star Tribune identified him after interviewing his principal.

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Morrison County deputies went to Smith’s house Friday on a suspicious activity call. They said he confessed to shooting the teenagers a day earlier after they broke into his house, but Sheriff Michel Wetzel said investigators believe he exceeded self-defense.